Another variable, similar to location-based compensation (i.e. standard of living multiplier) is what sort of company the employee lands at. I work at a very large company (80k employees world-wide), with very established pay scales for employees. Just to illustrate how things work:
Technical employees are on a scale of what are called job grades
Job grades have a pay scale, which includes a minimum, median, and maximum
Annual pay increases are calculated based on performance + where you are in your current grade’s scale
Promotion raises are between 8-12% unless 12% would land you below the minimum of the next grade up
So, that’s all to say that when I read this, I wondered about the types of companies that each major lands at. If I had to ballpark my employer’s demographics, I’d say: polymer scientists = chemists = chemical engineers > mechanical engineers = physicists = electrical engineers >> environmental engineers = CS majors.
If it’s a large, established company with significant investment in a system like the above (intuitively, I’m thinking that ME’s and other engineers are more likely to land in places like this vs. startups, smaller companies, and consulting with more variability in salary), could this shed light on the situation? This is similar to Gunnar_Zarncke’s comment, but with a bit more behind why established companies might pay less.
Another variable, similar to location-based compensation (i.e. standard of living multiplier) is what sort of company the employee lands at. I work at a very large company (80k employees world-wide), with very established pay scales for employees. Just to illustrate how things work:
Technical employees are on a scale of what are called job grades
Job grades have a pay scale, which includes a minimum, median, and maximum
Annual pay increases are calculated based on performance + where you are in your current grade’s scale
Promotion raises are between 8-12% unless 12% would land you below the minimum of the next grade up
So, that’s all to say that when I read this, I wondered about the types of companies that each major lands at. If I had to ballpark my employer’s demographics, I’d say: polymer scientists = chemists = chemical engineers > mechanical engineers = physicists = electrical engineers >> environmental engineers = CS majors.
If it’s a large, established company with significant investment in a system like the above (intuitively, I’m thinking that ME’s and other engineers are more likely to land in places like this vs. startups, smaller companies, and consulting with more variability in salary), could this shed light on the situation? This is similar to Gunnar_Zarncke’s comment, but with a bit more behind why established companies might pay less.